Our long-term Seat Arona continues to impress
The Seat Arona has been proving useful in all manner of situations, but a few niggles have cropped up during our time with it. Dave Brown explains
Another month of enjoyable motoring has passed by thanks to those kind folks at Seat and the nifty new Arona they have loaned us.
The great little crossover continues to impress, with its eye-catching design, clever tech and superb levels of comfort and safety. Trips from my home on the South Coast to London and Gloucestershire in recent weeks have been despatched with ease and the passengers who have joined me on the journeys have been only too pleased to do so. (It’s the car they’re keen on, not my sparkling repartee…)
If passengers find the car a pleasant place to be, the same can certainly be said of the driver. Although the Arona is a ‘compact SUV’ there’s no shortage of space for a lanky six-footer like me and the comfortable seats provide excellent back and lumbar support.
That’s the good news.
There is a slight downside this month, though, but to be honest it won’t really affect my use of the car.
The problem, identified by a Finnish motoring magazine, could see the belt spring open while the car is changing lanes and travelling at speed – and would only occur if all three of the rear seats were being used.
Apart from the Arona, the other two models affected are the car’s smaller Seat sibling, the Ibiza, and the new Volkswagen Polo.
When the story broke, Seat issued a statement saying: “We have identified the seatbelt issue that Tekniikan Maailma [the name of the Finnish magazine] has found. We are currently investigating the repair options.”
A quick email to the manufacturer’s press office established that while there was no recall in place just yet, “we advise that the middle seat, when the other two seats are occupied, isn’t used”.
OK, not ideal, but not the most dreadful of problems to encounter. The chances of me needing to transport four other people are remote in any case – but I obviously can’t speak for other Arona drivers.
So putting that niggle to one side, what else is there to say about the KM67XUU this month?
Well, everything is working exactly as it should, and very impressively as well, but one thing I have noticed is that its clock seems to be a bit confused at times.
Occasionally it thinks it’s somewhere an hour behind the UK.
The latest press release from Seat indicates that more than 25,000 examples of the Arona have been sold since launch and with every award and positive review raising its profile still further, that number will surely only increase.
